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UK Girl born a boy wins new birth certificate
Contributed by Sabrina
via Associated Press
December 2, 1998
A GIRL of 10 who was born a boy has won an eight-year battle to
have her birth certificate changed so that she can be legally recognised
as a girl.
A 47-page submission by Prof Charles Brook, an endocrinologist at
Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, where Joella Holliday has
been treated, finally convinced the Office for National Statistics to take
the rare step of changing the paperwork.
Her mother, Julia Farmer, 30, said she had been prepared to take her
daughter's case to the High Court if necessary. Now mother and
daughter, from Pinchbeck, Lincs, are waiting for the postman to bring the
new birth certificate.
Joella was born with severe lower abdominal abnormalities and
malformed organs. At first it was not clear if she was male or female but
hormone tests showed her to be chromosomally male.
For the first year of her life she was treated as a baby boy. But
following medical advice her parents put her in a dress and treated her as
a girl from her first birthday.
Joella, who was originally christened Joel David Holliday, has
enchanted staff at Great Ormond Street by her good spirits and
fortitude. She said yesterday: "It's really good. Now I can look
forward to getting married. It means a lot to me."
Mrs Farmer said: "She's just a normal little girl - she likes loud
music, boys and shopping. There's nothing different about her at all.
She's never been ribbed at school. She's just been accepted and always has
been right from the beginning."
Joella's second christening will take place in three weeks' time. When she
was born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, her abnormalities were so severe
that doctors feared for her life and she was quickly baptised.
Mrs Farmer said: "I had three scans during pregnancy, but nothing was
picked up. When I came round they wouldn't tell me whether I had a boy or
girl. All I knew was that she had a hole in her stomach. Then the chaplain
came in to christen her and I knew then it must be bad and that they
didn't think she was going to live. He asked me whether I had thought of
any names and I said Joel if it's a boy, but we couldn't think of a girl's
name. That's how Joel went on to the birth certificate."
Her mother's understanding was that her baby was hermaphrodite,
having characteristics of both sexes. Joella's condition is called cloacal
exstrophy and occurs in the embryo when there is a "mid-line fusion" of
the cells that form the lower abdomen and genitalia.
She was referred to Philip Ransley, consultant urology surgeon, Great
Ormond Street. The decision was taken that she would have a better and
happier life if she lived it as female. Joella had her first surgery when
she was 17 months old, followed by numerous operations and female hormone
treatment.
Her mother said: "It was a terrible shock and it took a lot of thinking
until we got to the decision that this is the only thing we could do. We
were told that the operation should be done before she was 18 months old
and they said we should set a day from which we would start treating her
as a girl.
"We picked her first birthday and put her to bed as a boy. The next
morning we put on a dress and she was Joella. As soon as we left the
hospital we applied to have her birth certificate changed, but we were
told it could not be. It was just so unjust and it's only with Prof
Brook's help and my tenacity that we have got this far. It was not a case
where we could get legal aid because there were no proceedings as such."
Prof Brook said yesterday it would have been a "disgrace" if the birth
certificate had not been altered. He said: "What I can't understand is why
everyone got in such a tizz about this and why it's taken so long. It
seems no one understood the nature of Joella's complaint. It had not been
explained properly to the relevant authorities and so they got it muddled
up with transsexuals and all that rubbish. It has nothing to do with that
at all. Joella had an embryological abnormality."
Prof Brook said he believed that Joella's assignment as a male child
had been misguided rather than a mistake. It had not been appropriate to
assign Joella to the male sex although she was "chromosomally a boy". He
said: "By the time she was about a year old it became clear that it would
be kinder to bring her up as a girl.
"She has had a lot of operations and I think she will do well. She is a
very sweet child. If we had been involved right at the beginning, she
would never have been registered as a boy."
The Rev John Read, the hospital chaplain who christened Joella, said:
"It's nice to know that she is being christened again. It's a new start."
TG murdered in Boston
Contributed by GAIN Remailer
via Boston Herald
November 30, 1998
Rita Hesler, a transgender stage performer, died from
multiple stab wounds received Saturday night after a violent struggle.
Hester, was reportedly a cautious individual, and was
noted as a lip-sync performer who recently had traveled to Europe where
she performed a lip-syncing act in Germany and Greece. A neighbor called
police to report a disturbance; when police arrived they found Hester in
cardiac arrest. Hester later died at a Boston hospital.
According to friends, Rita was "a very conservative girl," as Stephanie
Diamond, a friend, put it. Diamond added, "She didn't smoke. She
didn't get drunk. But she always had fun."
Police said there were no signs of forced entry to her apartment,
suggesting that she might have known her assailant.
According to reports she frequented a neighborhood bar near her home.
The owner of the bar said that the other regulars knew about her
transgender status, but that "She was just a regular person to us -
somebody we knew and we liked and got along with."
According to reports not in the newspapers, Hester was last seen leaving
the neighborhood bar, with one or two men either with her or following
her.
Drag Banker: Believe It or Don't
Contributed by Stephanie Louise Gray
via Private Eye Magazine
December 3, 1998
Suspicion is growing in the UK that a famous banker who turned up in drag at his trial in a massive fraud case may not have been all he seemed.
The latest edition of satirical magazine Private Eye carries its own
commentary on the Peter Young case. And they seem to be taking a somewhat cynical view of the matter. A few excerpts:
'A doctor writes: "I am increasingly asked: if I wear a dress in court,
will I get off ? And the answer is: only if you are charged with unmanly
offences like fraud. But do consult your fashion consultant as to the best
way to put your message across. And remember, courts are full of men in
wigs"'
'Why Peter/Elizabeth/Tracy Young made his first court appearance as a
somewhat unconvincing woman when facing charges over a £200m fraud is a
matter which will no doubt be the subject of the anticipated
fitness-for-trial hearing expected next year. Especially as his estranged
wife says he had never appeared in public like that before.'
'What of course his appearance did guarantee was massive publicity and a
mini-riot when Young exited the court as photographers fought to snap
"Elizabeth". This ugly scene could have been prevented if Young had posed
for photographs as requested.'
'If a man can be allowed to decide to have a sex change operation, why is
he unable to understand court proceedings regarding his own actions two
years ago ? Supposing he had such an operation, would that make him fit
to be tried at a future date wearing a dress ? All this may become
clearer once the medical evidence is public of Young's mental state and
his ability to understand criminal proceedings and give instructions - the
test in order to face trial.'
The Eye also draws comparisons with Ernest Saunders and Roger Seelig in
the Guinness illegal share dealings trial a few years ago. Saunders had
his sentence halved because the court of appeal was persuaded that he had
irreversible pre-senile dementia - Alzheimer's. Two years later he had
recovered and was back in the company director business... Seelig's trial
was halted because of his apparent mental breakdown while defending
himself - he too recovered and was back in business within months.
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